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OBERLIN COLLEGE 



LABORATORY BULLETIN NO. 19 



Geography in the Columbus, Ohio, Quadrangle 



BY 



GEORGE D. HUBBARD 



Reprinted from the Ohio Journal of Science, Vol. XVII, No. 5 




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52758 




Oberlin, Ohio 
May, 1917 



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GEOGRAPHY IN THE COLUMBUS, OHIO, 
QUADRANGLE.* 



George D. Hubbard. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The Columbus quadrangle (Fig. 1) includes an area which 
has had a long complex physiographic history, and yet today it 
presents very simple topography. 

Paleozoic strataf, essentially limestones in the west, shales 
through the central part and sandstones in the east, underlie 
the whole area and are almost horizontally disposed. Subjected 
to stream erosion from the date of its uplift to the beginning of 
the glacial period, the region was apparently almost completely 
base leveled; and then the streams were rejuvenated, at least 
before Illinoian time, and young valleys were carved below the 
peneplain. During the glacial period at least two distinct ice 
invasions occurred and each modified the topography both by 
erosion and deposition. In interglacial stages, streams devel- 
oped youthful valleys which were subsequently drift-filled. As 
the last or Wisconsin ice melted off, the present stream cycle was 
begun. In post-glacial time, the streams have carved several 
long narrow valleys with multitudes of short minor tributaries .J 

*Published with permission of the Ohio State Geologist. A part of the cost 
of illustrating this article was covered by a grant from the Emerson McMillin 
Research Fund, Ohio Academy of Science. 

fOhio Geological Survey, Vol. 3, p. 599f. U. S. Geol. Surv. Folio 197. 

tA full description and discussion of the stratigraphic and physiographic 
history of this region may be found in Bulletin 14, 4th series, Geological Survey of 
Ohio, by the author in'co-laboration with Drs. J. A. Bownocker and C. R. Stauffer. 

137 



140 The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XVII, No. 5, 

The abundance of limestone lying in plain view and very 
accessible along the Scioto River cliffs invited quarrying for 
building purposes; and the presence of wood made possible the 
burning of the stone for lime. Thus the foundations of two 
early industries were laid; the quarrying has persisted and 
grown to the present, but the burning of lime has long ceased 
because better lime could be made near by from rock of no 
value for building. 

At an early date, also, waterpower was developed on the 
Scioto and Olentangy rivers and on the Darby, Alum and 
Walnut Creeks and even on some minor streams. Valleys nar- 
rowing and widening as they passed from rock to drift and 
again to rock, because they intersected buried interglacial 
valleys, formed tempting sites for grist or saw mills. Many 
more of these sites might have been used. 

Springs, and good wells where springs were wanting, have 
furnished excellent waters which have made for comfort and 
health from the days of earliest settlement. These wholesome 
waters are possible because of the abundance of glacial drift 
both stratified and unstratified. A few in the eastern part come 
from the sandstones. 

Communication and transportation early demanded atten- 
tion because the till, especially when wet, made rather treach- 
erous roadbed. The abundant glacial gravels in out wash, kame 
and esker deposits were used most extensively for wagon roads 
over the till plain until a few years ago when crushed rock sprang 
suddenly into almost universal use. The rock used for miles 
around the capital is limestone, quarried and crushed at various 
openings along the Scioto River within the area studied. Both 
gravel and crushed rock have been extensively used for railroad 
1 »allast also. By making use of these resources, here so abundant 
and near at hand, a much better roadbed is made than could be 
constructed of the other available materials, logs, planks, drift 
and cinders. In this instance again the more close the adjust- 
ment to the physical conditions — the more thorough the use of 
resources the better it is for the people. And, again, the 
longer the people study the situation and work out their prob- 
lem, ih«' more they make use of their resources and become 
adjusted to the whole environment. 

When the canal system was being constructed in Ohio, 
Columbus citizens desired water connections with Lake Erie and 



Mar., 1917] Columbus, Ohio, Quadrangle 141 

with the Ohio River but the divide between them and the lake 
is high, hence neither of the through lines selected traversed the 
capital. One line did, however, come from Newark to Lock- 
bourne and proceed southward to Portsmouth, and the Colum- 
bus people took advantage of one side of the Scioto flood plain 
for an easy canal route south to Lockbourne, as shown on the 
topographic* map. From that town, the main canal led down 
the flood plain about five miles, and then at a point where the 
river crowded close to the canal- (east) side of the flood plain the 
canal turned aside into an abandoned glacial overflow channel 
and continued southward out of danger from the menace of 
the river. 

CULTURAL LOCATIONS GEOGRAPHICALLY DETERMINED. 

Houses. — Outside of the towns the houses are usually placed 
with reference to some physiographic feature. A number are 
located on alluvial fans, partly because the fan furnished a little 
elevation above the flood plain, allowed better drainage or a 
more inspiring view than the lower plain, partly because it was 
desired to build at the junction of two valleys or two valley- 
determined roads. 

Throughout the eastern sixth of the area many house sites 
were selected because of the proximity of a spring. Springs are 
common here, the water rising from the sandstones. Essentially 
all spring water is softer than well water from the drift, and it 
is always cool. 

Along the Scioto, Olentangy and Big Darby a number of 
houses have been built upon rock terraces. f (Fig. 2.) These 
afford pleasing outlooks, and a residence far enough above the 
flood plain to be out of danger of floods yet not as far away 
from the flood plain fields as would be a residence back on the 
upland. A spring at the rear of the terrace has given some 
terraces an advantage over others, and some parts of large 
terraces over other parts. 

Bluffs overlooking the flood plain have proven very attractive 
to both Mound-builder and Caucasian. At Arlington, west of 
Columbus, the best residences fringe the bluff from the Marble 



*At this point and many others the readers will find it advantageous to have 
at hand the four local topographic maps published by the U. S. Geol. Survey and 
the physiographic maps in the folio No. 197 and the Ohio Survey Bulletin 14, 
mentioned in the opening paragraph. 

tOhio Nat., Vol. IX (1908-09), pp. 397-403. 



142 



The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XVII, No. 5, 



Cliff station on the Pennsylvania Railroad south and east for 
two miles. Even the car from the city to Arlington is called 
the Grandview car. North of Columbus for two or three miles 
along the pike on the east Olentangy bluff there is being built a 
beautiful residence section. (Fig. 4.) In the city much more 
attention has been paid to the aesthetic in house location during 
the past ten years than ever before. 




Fig. 2. The rock terra. «• at Marble Cliff in the Semi.. Valley. This level stretch, 
many acres in extent, stands some oO feet above the river level and at li 
an equal distance below the upland. Looking nearly north. 



Over very much of the area even outside the specific moraine 
belts are strewn moraine hummocks, little swells in the till 
plain. Literally hundreds of farm and village houses are built 
on these hummocks. The slightly greater altitude gives better 
outlook and better drainage than has the plain in general. In 
a few instances, an esker ridge has furnished a place attractive 
enough for the farmer builder. 

Railroads. — North of Columbus in the central part of the 
area four railroads connect the city with Toledo, Sandusky, 
Cleveland and intermediate centers. The Hocking Valley, on 



Mar., 1917] Columbus, Ohio, Quadrangle 143 

the interstream strip between the two major streams, climbs 
from its flood plain station in the western part of the city, up 
the bluff obliquely for seven miles until it emerges on the 
upland, and then almost immediately plunges into a deep cut 
with ascending grade through the Powell moraine to a still 
higher inter-morainal till plain beyond the town of Powell. 
Two engines are employed to pull nearly every freight train 
this far out from the city. Where the road is well up on the 
interstream area it swings away from the main stream beyond 
the head ends of the little fringing tributaries bordering the 
Olentangy River. This is done to find a more nearly level 
course and to avoid building so many bridges. 

The Big Four, Pennsylvania and former Cleveland, Akron 
and Columbus, now a Pennsylvania line — the other three roads 
to the north — leave the Union Station on the east bluff of the 
Scioto River; hence do not need to make a climb but at once 
strike out on the interstream till plain. (Fig. 3.) The first and 
second are essentially parallel as far as the northern boundary 
of the area with no curves, bridges, cuts or fills, because they 
are so far from the major streams that the till plain is still 
undissected. (See topographic map.) One small bridge over a 
stream while still really within the city, and a slight grade 
south of, and a shallow cut through, the Powell moraine con- 
stitute the only exceptions to this generalization. If it were 
not for this adjustment — if, for example, the route of either 
railroad had been laid out one to one and one-half miles nearer 
the Olentangy stream — thirty-five to forty bridges would have 
been necessary with almost continuous cutting and grading. 
No road follows either of the four valleys north from Columbus 
because the interstream areas afford a much more practicable 
route. 

All the roads east, south and west lie on the level till plain 
paying no particular attention to valley or stream, because 
none is far below the till plain. No railroad out of Columbus 
follows a valley even for a short distance, except the Pennsyl- 
vania, the Toledo and Ohio Central, and the Big Four west for 
two or three miles, and the Hocking Valley and the Toledo and 
Ohio Central south for an equal distance. In all these cases, 
exit from the valleys is made as quickly as possible in order to 
use the level upland till plain. Not only do the roads out of the 
city avoid the valleys but over the whole area no railroads can 
be found in valleys at all. 



1-44 



The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XVII, No. 5 




Mar., 191' 



Columbus, Ohio, Quadrangle 



145 



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146 



The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XVII, No. 5, 



Rail rood Bridges. — The valleys are often so narrow in this 
area that the railroads cross on bridges supported on tall trestles. 
The Baltimore and Ohio over Big Darby Creek at Harrisburg 
has a bridge 90 feet high and about one-fourth mile long. 
(Fig. 5.) The Pennsylvania crosses the Scioto River at Marble 
Cliff west of Columbus on a high bridge and leads up a long 
rock terrace slope at the east end of the bridge to gain sufficient 
height for the crossing. (Fig. 2.) The Cleveland, Akron and 
Columbus crosses Big Walnut near Sunbury on a bridge high 
enough to be flush with the till plain, and the Baltimore and 
Ohio crosses Black Lick at Black Lick station in precisely the 
same manner. 




Fig. 5. Bridge of Baltimore ami Ohio railroad over Darby Creek at Orient. 

The track dips hut little to make this crossing. Such a high level 

brid ■ ' ause the valley is in the youthful stage, 

and advisable because the valley is so deep. 

Alluvial fan slopes are sometimes used by the electric rail- 
roads in getting out of and into a valley. The Arlington- 
Grandvicw car so ascends from the Scioto flood plain across a 
fan and up a little ravine to reach the upland till plain. All 
these harmonious adjustments of railroads are responses of the 
cultural to the physical. 

Wagon Roads. — It is probable that as many examples of 
wagon road adjustment could be found as of railroad responses. 
Many roads were laid out in "bee-line" from Columbus to the 
neighboring towns, in order to facilitate communication between 
them. Parallels and meridians are occupied by a few roads; 



Mar., 1917] Columbus, Ohio, Quadrangle 147 

but many miles of road are directed by streams or valleys. The 
Scioto River is followed by one road all the way from Columbus 
to the northern limits of the area and frequently by two for 
short distances. Similar response is found along the Olentangy 
River. Alum and Big Walnut valleys have proved sufficiently 
influential to have at least one road follow each most of the 
distance across the northern half of the area, but the road is 
upon the till plain a portion of the way. The valleys are crooked 
and streams more so, and the latter crowd closely under one 
bluff then under the other necessitating many bridges if the 
valley floor be followed. 

Wagon Bridges. — Over most of the smaller streams wagon 
bridges have been built where the fords were formerly, or so 
near, that obviously the ford crossing and its road connections 
determined the bridge site; but this is not the case with many 
of the larger bridges. Often narrow places, or sites with rock 
banks on one side or both, or specially good drift or gravel 
banks have been sought out for bridges, just the conditions 
that were avoided when the fords were located. This has 
necessitated the laying out of new roads and the construction 
of crooked, indirect roads across the valleys in many places. 
The bridge over Big Darby, midway between Georgesville and 
Harrisburg, and the upper br'dge at the latter place are good 
illustrations of this principle. The bridge is located at a desir- 
able place with reference to the stream, but where considerable 
circuitous driving is necessary to use the bridge. So common 
is this kind of response that a bridge, so placed as to make the 
road straight across the stream, and continuous with roads on 
opposite sides, is a rather rare feature in the area. 

In many places the suitable crossing, whether ford or bridge, 
and particularly if a bridge, is approached by several roads. 
A convergence of three, four and even five roads from one side 
of the bridge and a corresponding divergence on the other side is 
a frequent occurrence. 

Quarries. — Many opportunities are afforded by the physio- 
graphy for access to the rock. Valleys are youthful and deep 
enough to have been cut well into the rock. The steep-sided 
valleys of the Scioto and several of its tributaries, and of the 
Darby creeks are, in more than a score of places, the sites of 
limestone quarries. Several old quarries are found south of 



lis 



The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XVII, No. 5, 



the Scioto, where it runs eastward, west of Columbus. Four 
or five more newer and much larger ones are located just north 
of the Marble Cliff bend; and then a series of lesser quarries, 
some old and some new, occupy favorable sites from these 
larger ones northward even to the northern boundary of the 
ana. Not only have the streams carved deep cuts into the 
rock and thus accomplished all the preliminary work of opening, 
but they have cut so deeply that large quarries can be worked 
above river level with no fear of water to trouble the workmen. 




Fig. G. Drain tile plant situated near Black Lick, because the soft Bedford shales 

art 1 here availal Le. 

Another item which makes quarrying easy is the fact that the 
glacier, scouring over this region removed nearly all partly 
decayed rock, leaving the fresh solid limestone, shales and 
sandstones at the surface; and again as the larger streams have 
made their valleys they have removed nearly all drift that the 
glaciers left, on these future quarry slopes. 

In the northwest portion of the area preglacial interstream 
ridges of limestone are so thinly mantled, and so thoroughly 
cleared by the glaciers of their partly weathered rock, that 
quarries have been opened in them without the aid of the rivers. 

Just as the streams and glaciers have prepared easy quarrying 
of the limestones in the western half, so in the eastern half of 



Mar., 1917] Columbus, Ohio, Quadrangle 149 

the area the same agencies have made sandstone quarrying 
easy. The sandstone is not nearly as good of its kind as is the 
limestone. 

Brick and Tile Plants. — The softer beds of the Devonian 
shales are exposed in several places and have determined the 
location of a sewer pipe plant in North Columbus and a brick 
and tile plant on East Fifth Avenue. Both factories find a large 
local market and do an extensive business. With the develop- 
ment of the brick industry on an abundant natural resource, and 
with the exhaustion of the timber has come a change in the 
kind of buildings from frame to brick houses. There should be 
much less of the former type of construction and much more 
of the durable limestone and brick construction in Columbus, 
and undoubtedly this adjustment will continue. A brick plant 
and a tile factory are located at Taylor's, some nine or ten miles 
east of Columbus, where the purple and red soft Bedford 
shales come to the surface. Another tile factory at Canal 
Winchester uses the same Bedford formation (Fig. 6). No 
factories of these kinds occur in the western part of the quad- 
rangle, because the suitable shales are wanting. Several minor 
tile- and brick-making establishments are using the glacial 
drift. Some take it directly from the till plain, others are 
drawing from glacial kettles which have been more or less filled 
with clay during post-glacial time. Some plants using the 
drift are located at Pickerington, in the south part of Columbus, 
near Greencastle and near Hilliards. 

Tile for draining the nearly level till plain finds considerable 
market over most of the area. Thus the needs, purely geo- 
graphic, is readily supplied by using natural resources already 
in place when the need arose. 

Sand and Gravel. — Sand for building purposes and gravel for 
wagon and railroad beds are abundant. Out wash deposits 
occur in and around Columbus and southward in abundance. 
Others are found along the streams north of the city. Eskers 
in North Columbus, Pickerington and southwest of Canal 
Winchester, and kames south of Columbus at Bakers and 
Spanglers Hills furnish much gravel, easily available. The 
Hocking Valley railroad company has built a spur to Bakers and 
expects to remove the whole hill. The demand for both 
sand and gravel is great in recent years in the building trade, 



150 



The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XVII, No. 5, 



and a company has thereby been called into being to dredge 
the Scioto River in Columbus, through which great quantities 
of both sand and gravel are supplied to the local market. 

Diversified Agriculture. — In the early part of the agricultural 
history of this region, general farming was the rule, but it has 
now been recognized that most of the land is better suited to 
some one class of farming than to others*. Certain uplands 
are given over almost entirely to timothy hay, or to pasture. 
Many small stream floodplains are now used for pasture alone, 
because they are too wet in most years for cultivation. Large 




Fig. 7. Alluvial tracts southwest of Columbus adapted for and devoted to 

truck farming. 

flood plains have been leveed and with the terraces or second 
bottoms are repeatedly planted to corn. A rotation of oats, corn, 
wheat and clover or alfalfa is used on many upland farms, for 
without a rotation any one of the grain crops soon fails. Some 
cold, heavy, upland fields are put into buckwheat, a crop especi- 
ally adapted to such soils. Orchards and fruit have been put 
upon many well drained slopes. This is particularly true 
near Columbus, where fruit markets arc largest. 

A lake bed of about forty acres, four and one-half miles 
south of South Columbus, is devoted year after year to onions. 
The soil is especially adapted, being Mack with organic matter, 
rich, loose and warm. Many other similar tracts, though 
rarely so large, could be thus used for onions or celery. Around 

*Map20, Columbus sheet. Bur. of Soils, Kept. Field Operations, 1902. Map 
30, Westerville sheet, ibid., 1905. 



Mar., 1917] 



Columbus, Ohio, Quadrangle 



151 




1 52 



The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XVII, No. 5, 



Columbus and particularly southward are hundreds of acres 
devoted to intensive gardening. This is partly a response to 
the call of the market, but the specific location of many of the 
gardens is determined by the fertile, alluvial, deposits of second 
bottoms south and west of the city (Fig. 7). Here and north- 
west of Columbus are the two most favored gardening sections. 
North and cast of town this specialized phase of agriculture 
does not occur, although all conditions but soil are probably 
as suitable, as in the two sections used. 




Fig. 9. 



Genera] view of the steel plant at Smith Columbus, at intersection of 
three railroads. 



Windmills. — Over most of the western half of the area the 
drift is deep and wells range from 50 to 150 feet in depth. 
In response to this combination, hundreds of farmers have 
erected windmills to pump the water. Winds usually move 
over this level country w 7 ith force enough to do the pumping. 
Occasionally the deep well seems to necessitate the installation 
of a gasoline engine, because the wind is scarcely able to do 
the pumping. 

In a strip four to eight miles wide along the eastern part 
of the area, springs from the sandstone are so common that 
wells are rare; and wells, when needed, are so shallow that 
windmills arc still less common. The spring-house, however, 
and the roadside watering trough are constant reminders to 
the traveler of the different conditions. Springs also occur 
in the gravel streaks of the glacial drift (Fig. 8). 



Mar., 1917] Columbus, Ohio, Quadrangle 153 

Industries Lacking Geographic Reasons for 
Location Here. 

A few examples of industries in which adjustment cannot 
be made, may profitably be mentioned. In such a city and 
community large quantities of cement are used and one might 
think a cement plant would be built here, but the natural 
resources limit the project. The limestone is not suitable for 
cement, and no suitable clays exist within many miles. Hence 
all cement must be shipped in, thus establishing geographic 
connections with a broader environment. The iron industry is 
rooted here in South Columbus (Fig. 9), but there is no element 
to encourage it beyond the local market and good flux lime- 
stone. Further, the plant sells but very little product in Colum- 
bus. Coal and iron must both be hauled many miles. While 
so much coal mining is financed from Columbus in the Hocking 
Valley and other districts to the southwest, that coal mining 
is considered the largest single business in Columbus, not a 
particle of coal is actually mined anywhere within the 
quadrangle. The iron ore for the iron and steel industry 
comes by way of Toledo from Lake Superior iron mines. 

A glass factory is running in the eastern part of Columbus, 
with quartz sand from Toledo and gas from 30 miles southeast. 
Market, labor and transportation facilities are about the only 
favorable conditions for this industry. No industry making 
heavy demands on lumber has located here, because of the 
natural scarcity of timber. Limitations of this sort are put 
upon many lines of manufacturing. 

The Growth of Columbus. 

Starting on the grounds formerly selected and used by the 
Wyandotte Indians for a straggling town, the village of 
Columbus began to take shape along the east bluff of the 
Scioto River one half mile to one mile below the mouth of the 
Olentangy. At this place the ground is high and gravelly, 
affording good drainage and in general much better conditions 
for building than most places near by. 

Nearly parallel with the general direction of the Scioto 
and Olentangy, along the slight elevation at the crest of the 
bluff, very appropriately came High Street (Fig. 10). And in 
distinction from many shorter streets leading eastward, one 
was called Long Street. Broad Street was laid out wider than 



154 



The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XVII, No. 5, 




Mar., 1917] Columbus, Ohio, Quadrangle 155 

any other, hence its name. The intersection of High and 
Broad streets, both leading far into the country, became the 
chief center and the State House corner. This pre-eminence 
was' further augmented when Broad Street west became the 
national pike and High Street north the Columbus-Sandusky 
pike. Main Street lies along the national pike east and early 
became a leading street. Because of the relation of High 
Street to the river, and of the relation of the two leading streets 
to the incoming pikes, the town has pushed out in four direc- 
tions, making a great Greek cross, (Fig. 1) ; and not until quite 
recently has there been much filling in of the corners. Ten or 
twelve years ago Columbus reached seven miles north and 
south and almost seven miles east and west, with an area of 
scarcely twenty square miles and nearly two of these bare 
flood plain. 

The older manufacturing plants, such as the carriage factories 
and shoe factories were located in the heart of town, in order 
to be in touch with river, canal and later the first railroads. 
Of course they still remain there and enjoy these locational 
privileges. Several later plants, as the Kilbourne-Jacobs and 
Kinnear machinery factories, and the Pennsylvania railroad 
shops and some of the State Institutions have been built up 
on the periphery of the old town, the former along the railroads, 
the latter on the attractive streets, east, north and west. And 
now, a later chain of manufacturing plants has been swung 
around the recent city three or four miles from the center and 
along the railroads ; — the steel plant (Fig. 9) , starch factory and 
fire apparatus factory on the south, where the Hocking, Toledo 
& Ohio Central and Norfolk & Western railroads part company ; 
the lithograph company, at the intersection of the Big Four 
and Fifth Avenue east; foundaries, machine shops and cold 
storage and butterine plants along the west side of the north 
arm of the city on the short spur from the railroad yards just 
north of the mouth of the Olentangy. The asylums for the 
insane (Fig. 11) and the feeble-minded stand on beautiful sites 
on the Scioto bluffs far out in the western arm. Many other 
plants owe their general location away from the center to their 
late arrival and the crowded condition of the business district; 
and their specific location to the intersection of two railroads 
or to some other transportational facility. 



156 



The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XVII, No. 5, 



The presence of the manufacturing district in the northeast 
corner of Columbus has prevented the spreading of the residence 
section into that corner until recently; and now, in the last 
five years, there has been a phenomenal growth between the 
factories and shops of this corner and the State Fair Grounds. 
This recent growth has occurred also still farther northeast 
beyond the Fair Grounds and the State University. Alum 
Creek also served as a temporary barrier for many years on 
the east, but these same recent years have seen a great expansion 




Fig. 11. State Asylum for the Insane. The flood plains below arc used for 

gardens, the wooded slopei for walks and the level upland 

for the buildings, drives and lawns. 

beyond that stream over the till plain for a mile and a half east, 
and for three miles north and south. Likewise there has been 
added to the city about four square miles of residence blocks in 
the southeast corner of the Greek cross. This tract was wet 
and undesirable for city lots, was poorly drained, untouched 
by street car service which for years had been confined very 
closely to the four cardinal arms of the city and was far from 
much of the business and manufacturing. But with the estab- 
lishing of factories and mills even beyond this district, and the 



Mar., 1917] Columbus, Ohio, Quadrangle 157 

crowding from within the city business section, the necessity 
of improving this 4-mile tract has been forced upon the city; 
and now much needed improvements have come, beginning 
with thorough draining, the paving of the main thoroughfares 
(the old country roads) and the building of car lines along 
several of these established highways. 

In a similar manner, and by almost the same steps, the 
northwest corner, Marble Cliff-Arlington district, is now filling 
in. As stated above, the Scioto bluff in this section has for many 
years had a fringe of comfortable looking residences and club 
houses located with reference to the "grandview" to the south 
and west; but the less attractive till plain is now well drained 
and taken up for residences, stores, school houses, and offices. 

Probably, however, the most attractive residence section 
now being built, is along the Columbus-Sandusky pike north. 
This road, now completely rebuilt and in excellent condition to 
keep pace with its surroundings, skirts along the Olentangy east 
bluff and is followed by the Columbus, Delaware and Marion 
electric railroad. Now for fully two miles cross streets have 
been laid out leading up the beautiful wast-facing bluff; and 
hundreds of houses have been built. (Fig. 4.) Clintonville, 
almost five miles north of the Union station is now structurally 
a part of Columbus. 

The city is, in a large way, a manufacturing, commercial and 
mercantile city and thus a product of the influence of the 
geographical conditions. As pointed out, transportation has 
from the start been easy, and now the many radial lines of 
steam railroad, electric railroad and pike are very influential in 
the growth of the city. The fine farming lands, calling for a 
numerous, active, well to do agricultural population, have been 
responsible for the great development of manufacturing of 
buggies, wagons, shoes, and other leather goods, farm machin- 
ery, iron and steel goods, and for the growth of the meat- 
packing, tile-making, and many other industries. Further, the 
coal, oil, and gas, and limestone nearby have called for manu- 
facture of well-drilling, mining, quarrying and electric appa- 
ratus. And with the growth of these industries, have come 
subsidiary, dependent or related industries in considerable 
numbers as in any other city. 



158 



The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XVII, No. 5, 



Influence of State Institutions. — While so much is in large 
degree a response to physical conditions here before the town 
came at all, and is a measure of the adjustment already accom- 
plished, no small importance must be attached to the location 
of the State Capital, the State University, and a half dozen 
other State Institutions in and about the city. But since these 
came partly because of the opportunities already offered and 
are now a part of the geographic environment, they may be 
considered among the geographic factors aiding in the growth 
and importance of the city. They each bring many workmen, 
skilled and otherwise, whose homes are a part of the residence 
districts, and whose expenditures add a large item to the busi- 
ness of the city. Not only through their employes but directly 




Fig. 12. Drives, shade and conservatory in Franklin Park. Sags and swells of 
moraine may be seen among the trees on both left and right. 

through their own maintenance do these institutions each con- 
tribute to the importance of the city. Further, most of them 
owe no small part of their size and usefulness to the fact that 
they are in the midst of a large, growing, prosperous community. 
Parks and Drives. — Columbus lias taken advantage of but 
little of its narural beauty and attractiveness in its park and 
drive system. Two parks in the thickly settled parts of town 
and the U. S. Barracks in the midst now of a manufacturing 
district constitute all that could be called park until the out- 
skirts of the city are reached, and all these He on the exceedingly 
level uninspiring till plain. Franklin Park on the eastern 
border along Alum Creek is part flood plain and part till plain, 
with a rolling somewhat sandy intermediate zone of charming 
country suitable for drives, shrubbery and flowers. Some use of 



Mar., 1917] 



Columbus, Ohio, Quadrangle 



159 



of this tract is already being made. (Fig. 12.) The stream itself 
is not made use of, and its borders within the park are essentially 
waste. Broad Street (Fig. 13) and Bryden Road (Fig. 14), 
shady well kept residence streets, connect the park with the 
business district. At the west end of the city, two State Insti- 
tutions, the Asylums for the Insane and for the Feeble-minded 
have spacious green and shade areas lying over the definite 
bluffs of the Scioto and on both the till plain above and the 
flood plain below. (Fig. 11.) Neither reaches the river. They 




Fig. 13. East Broad Street. Fine residence properties and splendid drives on 

the even till plain. 

are not in any sense public parks, yet in some respects they 
serve that function and might be greatly beautified by taking 
advantage of more of their geographic setting. 

In a similar manner the State University grounds (Fig. 15), 
well north in the city, lie over the bluffs and upon adjacent 
upper and lower plains along the Olentangy River and a small 
tributary ravine. A very little effort has here been made to use 
natural beauty by restraining the waters of a group of springs 
for a lake, and limiting their flow to one large spring bowl. Not 
half as much has been accomplished as might be to make 
attractive a really pretty natural site. A private company has 



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Pig. 15. A beauty spot over the bluffs of a little ravine tributary to Olentangy 
River, now a pari of the State University Campus. 



Mar., 1917] 



Columbus, Ohio, Quadrangle 



161 



selected a beautiful place at the northern limits of town, on the 
Olentangy River and a tributary ravine, and has there built up 
an amusement and picnic park. Much has been done to make 
the site over the slopes attractive by buildings, walks, stairs and 
seats. A suggestion is here given of what the city might do. 
East from this park, up the ravine about a mile, the glen, 
here possessing a small flood plain, is now used for a park. 
Paths and seats, with rustic bridges over the stream and a well 
or two constitute the chief improvements but they are sufficient 
to draw the public to the pretty site for picnics and pleasure 
walks. No true boulevards are to be found at Columbus. 




Fig. 16. Concrete Storage Dam, which retains 1,000,000,000 gallons of water in 
the Scioto gorge. Built where the youthful gorge narrows suitably. 

City Water Supply. — For many years the shallow well system 
of water supply was used in Columbus as in the country districts 
around, but finally the waters of the Scioto River were drawn 
upon, and a city waterworks plant was put into operation thus 
laying under control another item in the environment. This 
was, however, surface water, hard, variable both in supply, and 
in freedom from mud, and always open to contamination from 
a thousand upstream sources. The Scioto valley, while essen- 
tially a rock gorge across the entire northern half of the quad- 
rangle, and narrow enough to be effectively obstructed by a 
large dam, is wide enough to make a very satisfactory reservoir. 
About twelve years ago the city council decided to take another 
step in the adjustment to the physiographic conditions by 
building a massive concrete dam across the river. (Fig. 16.) 



162 The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XVII, No. 5, 

The site selected was six miles above the city, at a place where 
the valley walls were fairly close together, and above which the 
valley widened a little. The dam was built on solid limestone 
all the way across and set into limestone bluffs on each side. 
Rock removed to build approaches and abutments was crushed 
and used in the concrete construction. When completed, the 
dam was high enough to pond the water back for fully four 
miles or almost to the Dublin bridge. The mouths of little 
tributary gorge valleys and several little quarries were drowned. 
The old Dublin road had to be raised or reconstructed 50 to 100 
feet higher up the bluffs. This improvement with a large filtra- 
tion, softening, and pumping plant most admirably situated 
near the junction of the two large rivers has put Columbus in 
touch with one of the best water supplies to be found. 

Natural slopes toward the Scioto River from all parts of the 
city, and the great gravel and sand beds south of the city for 
settling tanks and filters have been taken advantage of in the 
construction of a sewage system and disposal plant. 

Floods. — The young valleys of the Scioto and Olentangy 
rivers with their considerable drainage basins above are subject 
to floods of devastating dimensions. Nearly every spring a 
moderate flood arrives at Columbus, and in years with excep- 
tional combinations of circumstances the quantity of water 
becomes alarming. The valleys above the city are rather steep 
floored and at the city there is a decided decrease in the fall of 
the stream with a widening of the valley. The unfortunate 
condition is still further accentuated by several railroad grades 
and wagon roads across the flood plain in the western part of 
the city. These grades were built in part to keep the traffic up 
and out of the water and in part to make easy grades for trains 
getting in and out of the valley. They do not have enough 
bridge section but are solid earth and stone walls nearly all the 
distance across the valley and hence obstruct greatly the ready 
egress of the water poured out upon the flats from the steeper 
upper stream courses. 

The flood of 1913* proved the most destructive in the 
history of the city, and made it very plain that measures should 
speedily be taken to provide for this variable geographic 
factor — the river flood stage. Among necessary improvements 

*Griggs, Julian, Engineering News, April, 1913. 



Mar., 1917] Columbus, Ohio, Quadrangle 163 

are the rebuilding of the various grades so that they shall offer 
as little obstruction as possible, the straightening of the river 
channel in two large curves in the south part of town, the 
removal of encroaching buildings and bridge abutments at 
several points, together with more careful levee building. 
Much of this work would lend itself to the general scheme of 
city beautification. 

FUTURE OF THE DISTRICT. 

The general directions along which adjustments to geo- 
graphic conditions in the area shall move, are already clearly 
indicated by present progress. There is no reason to believe 
that material change in the industrial or commercial tendencies 
will be called for by the environment. Relative values however, 
may change considerably. Because of the soil, climate, and 
market conditions prevailing in the region the farm lands will be 
devoted to agriculture, except where needed for the growth of 
the towns. The diversification already begun will continue. 
Market gardening, and fruit growing will each seek out the most 
favorable places and conditions for their respective expansion, 
and they will greatly increase at the expense of general agricul- 
ture. This is because of the general call of increasing population 
for more intensive agriculture and a greater supply of products 
from a smaller area, and because of the particular call of the 
larger population through the local markets. Stock-raising for 
meat will increase for the same reason. 

Minor Centers. — Small towns will yet spring up at many 
points within the area, partly as residence suburbs of Columbus 
and partly to care for the commercial and mercantile interests 
of communities becoming more densely populated. These latter 
will be mainly at intersection points of railroads or of railroads 
and electrics or even in some places at improved road 
intersections. 

Probably nothing new in the development of mineral 
resources will come to this district ; but several industries now in 
their early and unimportant stages will greatly enlarge. Brick 
manufacturing has good opportunities, and it will yet grow much 
because of the abundance of shales, adjacent coal and gas, and 
the increasing demand for brick buildings. Stone quarrying, for 
crushed rock, cement and road material will become a larger 
industry; and quarrying for building stone may be more than 



164 The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XVII, No. 5, 

restored to its former significance as the desire in the city for 
more permanent buildings increases. 

Manufacturing, along many lines, especially those catering 
to the local markets, will increase. New plants will arise at 
various points along the railroads and may form the nuclei for 
some of the new towns predicted above, but most of the factories 
will cling to the borders of the city. 

The City. — Columbus may be expected to expand industri- 
ally, commercially and artistically for many years to come. 
Industrially, many building sites along river and railroad will be 
occupied; and commercially, as the population and manufactur- 
ing increase, the facilities for communication and transportation 
must needs be augmented. No doubt new electric lines will yet 
be built, and certainly several steam lines will doubletrack to 
increase the external relations and connections of the city. 
Possibly a new railroad or two may yet be demanded to care 
for the products coming into and going out from this city. 

While the industrial development of Columbus may be 
expected to be concentrated along the railroads, and to run in 
some places, miles into the country, the residence districts will 
as certainly be built up between railroads. This points def- 
initely to three districts beside the tract north of town and east 
of the Olentangy, already discussed, which may look for great 
improvement and a rapidly growing population. One of these, 
and if geographic conditions are to count for much, the first to 
receive attention, is the beautiful well drained, easily reached, 
upland between the two large rivers. Already much progress has 
been made in the southern part of this tract but the farms north 
of Fifth Avenue in both Clinton and Perry Townships must pass 
from farming lands to town lots, streets, drives and school yards, 
and city car lines must reach out along the present roads. 

The next most desirable district is between the Big Four 
tracks north from Columbus and the Pennsylvania track north- 
east, in the vicinity of Linden. One electric line connecting with 
Westerville already runs close to this tract; others will come. 
The farms in this section are now so valuable for residences that 
they are not profitable for farming and the response must 
soon come. 

The third district lies south-west from the city beyond the 
cemeteries and between the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, and 



Mar., 1917] 



Columbus, Ohio, Quadrangle 



165 



the Big Four. Its gently rolling topography and its moderate 
slope eastward to the Scioto, insuring good drainage, added to 
the short distance from the manufacturing plants in the western 
part of the city and the pressure of population from the same 
parts, constitute the chief reasons for development of this 
section for residences. 

Scarcely a city in Ohio excels Columbus in the matter of 
opportunities to beautify and adorn itself with parks, drives, 




Fig. 17. Hayden Falls, three miles above the Storage Dam, which should be 

made available bv good road connections with the city. 

(Photo by C. R.Stauffer.) 

shade and shrubbery. Two or three natural water-ways lead out 
of the city along which roads and walks could be constructed for 
recreation walks and drives. The most attractive of these is 
unquestionably the Scioto valley. A good automobile road now 
runs up the valley as far as the storage dam on one side, but there 
might be a grassed strip with shade, rest benches, and flowering 
shrubs from the business district along the valley westward, then 
northward past Marble Cliff, the quarries and the dam and then 
along the water supply reservoir a considerable distance or even 
to its upper end. Grass, shade, comfort stations, and seats along 



166 



The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XVII, No. 5, 



the lake shore would make a most attractive walk or drive all the 
way from the dusty city to the storage reservoir, any part or all 
of which could be used for a walk, by the thousands who at 
present seek outdoor exercise on dirty old roads. A return drive 
less elaborate could be made on the west side of the lake and 
river past Hayden's Falls (Fig. 17) coming into the city along 
West Broad Street. Golf grounds, the Wyandotte Glub, 
Country Club and the Columbus Fishing and Gun Club are 
already along this route, and there might well be an amusement 




Fig. IS. 



A pool, with shady walks, drive and picnic grounds 
in Schiller Park. 



park somewhere well out, perhaps on a part of the large terrace 
a little above the dam but approached by a ear line from the 
city. 

Similar shaded walks and drives with comfortable seats, 
attractive shrubbery and tree clusters at suitable points, 
constructed up the Olentangy valley from Fifth Avenue or 
even Goodale Street, past the State University and the 
Olentangy amusement park to Worthington, would constitute 
a delightful place, and would fit admirably into a naturally 
beautiful setting. This walk would of necessity require an 
artificial levee part of the way, until beyond the city limits. 



Mar., 1917] Columbus, Ohio, Quadrangle 167 

From Franklin Park northward, up Alum Creek to Minerva 
Park, about eight miles, are many beautiful places which 
could be similarly tied together by a broad boulevard and shady 
walks. A cross line up a shady ravine, east of Linden, through 
that suburb and down another ravine, or through Clintonville 
to the Olentangy drive, or still further north from Minerva 
Park to Worthington, would complete the northern loop. 

A loop is invited in the southeast part of the city from 
Franklin Park down Alum Creek, past the Driving Park and 
Infirmary and return to the Scioto Valley, through Schiller 
Park (Fig. 18) about two miles south of the State House. 




Fig. 19. The ancient ill-kept residences and old shops along the Scioto banks 

which should be removed to make place for a public drive, bordered 

with grass and shade. (Photo by R. F. Griggs.) 

Instead of the unsightly, ancient, tumbled-down, unsanitary 
houses and shops now crowded along the river (Fig. 19) from 
Broad Street south, a broad, shady drive or walk on a large 
levee could be built, which would devote natural scenic beauty 
to the uses for which it is best adapted, and not strain it beyond 
recognition to make sites for hovels of squalor. The people 
living along these alleys would be vastly better off, too, if 
forced to find more cleanly, homelike quarters in real residence 
sections. 

Of course not all this forecast can come true at once, any 
more than the present city with its maze of geographic adjust- 
ments has arisen in a year. But the progress of the century 



168 The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XVII, No. 5, 

gone suggests that another century should see most of the 
mentioned opportunities taken advantage of, both in city and 
country. With the progress of civilization, culture and industrial 
development will come closer adjustment to the geographic 
conditions. More items in the environment will be used, 
and a larger proportion will be used for the things to which 
they are best adapted. 

Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 574 686 3 



